


After Midnight in Salem

by m0nica



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games), Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries - Franklin W. Dixon & Carolyn Keene
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22052182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m0nica/pseuds/m0nica
Summary: Post- Midnight in Salem, Nancy reunites with Ned to talk about Frank and Joe's offer and the future. Spoilers if you haven't finished Midnight in Salem.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	After Midnight in Salem

Ned was always pumped to see Nancy after one of her cases. He always begged her to come visit him at school instead of going home to her Dad, and always insisted he pick her up from the airport. Every time he painstakingly waited for her to come out the gate. He would watch her come down the escalator, walk far too slowly towards him, before he gave up and ran to her, typically picking her up and spinning her around. 

This trip was different. Nancy came down the escalator beaming, searching the room until she spotted Ned. Much to his surprise, she darted towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around him. She pressed again him hard, planting a searing kiss on his lips. Ned didn’t even allow himself a moment to be shocked. He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back.

He pulled away and smiled, “I missed you, Nan.” 

“I missed you so much, Ned. I’m so excited to see you.”

Ned placed her down gently and pulled her into a tight hug. He placed a kiss on her head and released her, gathering her bags that she must’ve thrown before leaping into his arms.

They walked hand in hand to Ned’s car, Ned bombarding Nancy with questions about her case. She told him everything, sans the near drowning experience. He seemed worried enough during the parts of the story Nancy considered tame, so she decided to leave that out. They talked about going to Austria together, Nancy so excited she barely stopped to breathe.

“How long are you planning on staying with me?” Ned asked.

“As long as you’ll have me!” Nancy beamed.

“Then you’re going to need to pack the rest of your things” Ned teased.

“Well I know you have class, but I was hoping to stay the week? I want to watch your last college game.”

“Hey! It’s only my last game if I lose!” Ned teased. 

“Then I’ll stay long enough to watch you all the way to the championship!” Nancy laughed, “I can keep myself occupied while you’re in class. I have a lot of stuff to work out with Fred and Joe, and I haven’t spoken to Bess or George since I left for Austria. They may think I’m dead.”

“I can think of ways I can keep you occupied without me going to any classes.”

“Ned!” Nancy gasped, playfully slapping Ned’s knee. 

“Wait, what do you have to work out with Fred?”

“And Joe, Ned. Take it easy.” 

“What do you have to work out?”

“Well, they asked me to start a detective agency with them.”

“A detective agency? Wow, Nan. That’s huge!”

“Yeah” Nancy mumbled, staring off into the distance.

“What are you thinking?”

“I-, well, I’m thinking a lot” Nancy said honestly.

“I want to hear it all” Ned insisted.

“Well, I think that’s a lot of commitment. I don’t know, starting a real official business? It’s so… real.”

“What you do now is plenty real.”

“I know, but I don’t know how long I’d do it. If I start an agency, I don’t think I could ever get out.”

“You can do whatever you want, Nancy. Crime solving, crime fighting, whatever. I support you.”

“What do I know about business? Not much more than Joe or Frank. I don’t even charge a huge chunk of my cases. I just want to do the right thing. That’s not conducive of a good business.”

“Yeah, but you can do cases pro bono, Nancy.”

“I know, but I’m already slammed with cases now. An agency would only make that worse. I’d hardly see you.”

“Well, you can split cases with Joe and Fred. Hell, you’re just the partners. You could train other people and pass cases onto them.”

“That’s…. a really good idea, Ned. I could. I could even get Deidre involved.”

“Deidre Shannon? Seriously?”

“I know, I know. But I’m telling you! She really has a knack for this kind of thing. When she graduates next year, I could offer her a job!”

“That you could. You could take on as many or as few cases as you wanted. I really do think it’s a good idea for you. I think you’d love it.”

“I don’t know anything about running a business, Ned.”

“Luckily your amazing boyfriend is a semester away from graduating with a business degree from Emerson! You know I’d help you, free of charge!”

“Really? You would?”

“Anything you need, Nan. Seriously.”

“Even if I am starting a business with Frank Hardy?

Ned chuckled. “I love you, Nancy Drew. I trust you, and I support you. No matter what.”

Nancy leaned across the seat and gave Ned a kiss.

“Well, you’re making me real consider it. There was something I was worried about, and you’re easing my mind.”

“Yeah? What else are you thinking?”

“Well, I want to have my own schedule.” She paused, trying to figure out how best to phrase her thoughts. “I want to be able to be sure I’m going to be here for things. I don’t want to miss any more anniversaries or dates, but I also don’t want to miss the thing that aren’t scheduled.”

Ned looked inquisitively at her.

“I don’t want to miss the times you come back from work with crazy stories that you’re excited to tell me. I don’t want to miss the times you have bad days and you need to talk to me about it. I don’t want to miss everything with Bess and Dave, or even Burt and Dave. I can’t give up sleuthing, I know that. I just don’t want to give up everything else, too. This whole idea of an agency got me really thinking about my future and what I want it to look like.”

“Well, what do you want it to look like?” Ned’s heart was pounding.

“Honestly, I’m not so sure yet. All I know is that I want you in it at every moment.”


End file.
